Days we have forgotten
by EK
Summary: COMPLETE. A young soldier got more than he bargained for when he rescued a little redhaired boy from drowning one day.
1. meeting

The inspiration of this story is a set of incredible pencil fanart from a Japanese website. That makes me guess that some Japanese person already made a fanfic with the same idea, inspiring said awesome fanart. In any case, I'm copying nobody's work, and I hope you like this little take. As usual, S7 ain't mine, and this is all conjecture and what-if by a crazy fan. Hope you like, though. Do remember I'm a big gearhead fan, and it shamelessly affects this story. I think this will last for 3 chapters.

Wow, EK does descriptions. Incredible. (I frequently do more dialogue, you see.)

……………………………..

Katayama Gorobei was a new soldier, but a pretty good one, according to his superiors. He was a good trainee. He excelled in most weapons. He was brave, and demonstrated it in the few battles he had already fought for the clan. His easy-going nature gave him many friends within the troop. All this, and he had just passed 20 years old.

Today was the start of his first official leave, after half a year of service. He was given a week to do anything he liked. He did not have a lot of money, though. He computed that he may have enough for a few nights at an inn, some good eating, and a nice time at the entertainment districts. Not just to see the girls, although the girls were a nice thing to see. But he was also interested in the side shows: the fire-eaters, the knife-throwers, the acrobats. Those were better sights to see, in his opinion.

Their base was currently placed near a district beside the sea, and a lot of ships and vessels were moving in and out. He strolled there first, chatting now and then with friends among the sailors and the merchants around the ports. He promised to visit them again after his week was over.

Next, he did a little bird-watching on one of the decks. He was not a man of extravagant taste. Simple pleasures in life made him happy, and the thrill of fighting a battle gave him enough of a rush when he wanted it. He took out his binoculars, and observed the seagulls with glee.

One of the blue-white birds flew rather low, and he got to notice one of the smaller vessels passing through the port. The vessel he saw was filled with people at the top deck, and a few guards were checking them every so often. Nothing new. Maybe just civilians being brought to safer territories while the new war was being fought.

He shifted his view to the back of the vessel, and just barely noticed a small speck of red fall from the top deck and into the water.

"Egad!"

He scanned the water, and saw the speck of red flap its arms for a while, before disappearing under the water. There was no battle currently going on, so any person falling off a vessel should not be rightly falling off. That person had to be saved, especially considering that the person seemed a bit too small!

He brought down his binoculars, and saw that the vessel was not too far from where he was seated, about 20 meters away. A fast swimmer could get to the redhaired person just in time to save him.

He took off his shirt and dived in.

The red hair was conspicuous even inside the water, and quickly led the young man to the person. Or, more exactly, and what frightened him … the person was a boy, not even ten years old, and small and thin for his age. The boy was already unconscious. He immediately clutched the boy close, and swam up to the surface. He brought him to a deck, and lay him flat on the ground.

The boy was still not breathing, but now he had a good look at him. As he estimated, the boy was small for his age, and was wearing a tunic that was very plain and rather dirty. The boy was also bruised on the forehead and on one arm. "Poor little chap. Now, let's see…," he mused. "Is that the one where I pat you on the back, or push your chest up? No….that's not right….but you're a bit too big already to be treated like a baby…" He scratched his head. "I guess the one for big people will have to do…I'll just be gentle. Now, don't die on me, redhaired little boy…"

He placed his hands together and placed them over the boy's heart. As taught in training, he pressed down at regular intervals, then breathed into the boy's mouth. He tried to place the pressure just enough, but he was getting worried that he was either being too forceful or too gentle that nothing was happening. "Not good…not good…Please, little redhead, come on…"

Finally he heard a slight cough, then a few more. The boy turned over to his side himself and coughed out the rest of the water. He patted the boy's back to help the process.

"Thank goodness you're alright," he said. "You gave me quite a scare, my little friend. But do you feel alright?"

The boy sat up and nodded.

The vessel the boy fell off from was still visible, and Gorobei yelled as loudly as he could to it. He found it really odd that, as far as he could tell, there was no confusion on the ship related to a "man overboard" warning. It was as if nothing had happened. He sighed. But the ship was not his first concern right now. He had to think about the redhaired boy, who was still in his damp clothes.

He squeezed out some of the water out of his own clothes, and sneezed. "Now, we're both sopping wet. I'll try to get some new clothes for you, and have you checked out."

The boy was still a bit too startled to react, and just allowed himself to be carried in the young man's arms.

The young man brought the boy to a little clinic he found, and left him with the resident nurse, while he disappeared for a while to change his clothes. He quickly returned, relieved that the boy had been changed into a tunic and little pants, and that the boy was pronounced fine. The nurse offered to keep the little boy at the health ward, but Gorobei said it was alright. He knew he would be imposing on the nurse, and said he would take the boy out during his leave.

He stopped at a clearing just slightly beyond the ports. He lay down on the ground to think, looking up at the gray and cloudy sky dotted with mecha samurai and cruisers. The boy beside him sat quietly.

"I guess you're stuck with me for a while," he patted the boy's knee. "We do have to find that vessel you fell off from……"

But the little boy slowly but surely began to sniffle, more and more, and little tears began to fall. He wiped his tears with the tunic, but more tears came out to wipe away.

Scared of what he might have done wrong, the young man began to panic. "Now, now, my little friend, stop crying, please, please?"

But the tears kept flowing down the boy's cheeks. He did not bawl, like other children, but he would not stop crying either.

The young man scratched his head. Then he snapped his fingers and smiled as the boy. "I know." He made the boy look at him. "Here's something I learned from my dad. Watch."

He showed the boy his sleeves, then pulled them up to show he was not hiding anything. He opened up his jacket to prove the same thing. He then took the boy's sleeves and pulled them up. He scratched his head. He raised the boy's tunic and tickled him a bit. "Golly, where is it?" He then raised one of the boy's shoes, and drew out a coin. He raised the other shoe, and drew out another coin. He then ran his hands through the boy's unruly hair and took out two more coins near each ear. The boy stopped crying in surprise.

"A little millionaire! You should've told me, you rascal!" he ended by pulling out a final coin from behind the tunic.

The little boy began to laugh and laugh.

"See, my friend? Isn't that nicer?" The young man chuckled. The boy sniffed and nodded. "Now, what is your name?"

The boy sniffed again and rubbed his eyes. "Hei."

"Alright, Hei-chan," the young man patted him on the head. "It's getting dark already, so let's go someplace to sleep tonight, and we'll look for your parents tomorrow. Deal?"

The little boy frowned again and lowered his head. "No mommy, or daddy. Not anymore."

"Dear me, that's quite a problem," he sympathized. "Who do we look for, then?"

"I don't know who they are." The boy began to sniffle and wipe a few tears.

"Oh, dear…" he scratched his head. "All the same, let's find a place to sleep. We'll worry about it tomorrow."

"Okay."

They started walking around, the young man asking for cheap prices at the inns. Unfortunately, all the prices were beyond his expectations. No one would even let them into the kitchen or the stable. He shrugged and grinned at his small companion. "Disadvantages of being such a cheapskate."

But he could see that the boy was getting tired. He stopped and sat on the ground. "Here, Hei-chan," he patted his back. "Hop on."

"Too heavy," the boy shook his head.

"No, I don't think so, you're small enough. Hop on."

The little boy climbed up on his back and slung his arms over the young man's shoulders. He leaned his head on the young man's back, and was soon fast asleep.

"A trusting little fellow, that's good," the young man ruffled the boy's red hair. "I hope nobody takes that from you when you grow up. At any rate, I won't let it start with me!"

He knocked at the last inn. A man came out, and immediately looked at the boy on his back. "A foreign child!"

"Spare us a room, please? For the boy's sake? I'll work for the payment if necessary," he begged.

The innkeeper shook his head. "Me? Let a samurai work for me? I would not subject him to that dishonor!" The innkeeper kept looking at the boy on the young man's back. "Besides, I feel sorry for you having to carry that child."

He bowed, then was led to the smallest room of the inn. He laid his little burden on a futon, and lay down beside him.

The little boy groped in the air for a bit with his eyes closed, until it met the young man's arm. The boy wrapped its arms around it. "Don't….go….away…." the boy pleaded in his sleep.

He ruffled the boy's hair again. "I'll be right here."

………………………….

I figure there is at most a 15-year (at least a 10-year) age gap between Goro-san and Hei-san, it's just less obvious because they're both older when the series introduces them. (Erm, just take my word for it for now, okay?) Thanks for reading this. Sorry it's a bit short. I'll be back after some time for the next chapter. Opinions and suggestions still accepted. See ya!


	2. knowing

As I have said a few times at the RK and GB sections here, writing these little stories keeps me sane. Of course, doing this does have some detrimental effects on the exam scores, but it helps keep the panic down while studying, or it keeps me awake when I'm getting bored. If it tells you anything, I learned to first like the Samurai 7 series last year during removals (last-chance exams) season.

S7 ain't mine, neither are the 2 guys that this story uses. This is all what-if based on somebody's incredible sketches. Second of three chapters.

……………………………

Gorobei was not able to leave the inn at all, the day after he saved his little friend. Hei had a firm hold on his arm, while he slept through a slight fever. "I like kids, but I'm not getting kids of my own," the young man swore to himself, stuck to either sitting or lying on the floor that day. "Too much trouble…"

No one from the authorities came asking about a redhaired boy. Gorobei himself went asking around on the second day, without results. He returned to the inn that afternoon with a heavy heart. He did not know what would happen to his little friend after his leave was over.

The little boy waved to him from the second floor window when the returned. He also ran down to greet him. With a happy grin he showed him a little wagon he had just made. It was made out of a broken bento box, the lids of old cans, and used sticks. But the workmanship was more than what was expected out of a boy who said he was seven years old.

Gorobei gave him a spinner, a small propeller attached to a stick. "Thank you," the boy grabbed for it, held it between his hands, sent it flying and happily ran after it around the inn.

Such a smart and sweet little boy, given another chance to live. The young man wanted to make sure it was a good life.

"Have him scanned, you have to know," the innkeeper suggested the next day.

Gorobei was seated cross-legged on the floor, deep in thought, while the redhaired boy played with the small wagon near him. The innkeeper was telling him to bring the child to the authorities, and to have an iris scan done on him.

"Is that okay with you?" the young man asked the little boy.

"Will it hurt, Katayama-san?" the boy asked.

"Gorobei, my friend, everyone calls me that," he said. "No, it won't hurt."

"Okay." And that was that.

The only thing they discovered with the scan was that the boy was indeed the son of parents originally of a faraway land. As he was born in the region he was currently in, he was named Heihachi. But his parents were ordinary merchants of imported goods in the region, neither poor nor rich. Further inquires told the young man that the town Heihachi came from had recently been razed to the ground. That was why he had no mommy, or daddy, not anymore.

Awful memories for such a young child.

Memories that were hurting the boy at that moment. He was looking down at the wagon, and sullenly turning the wheels. He kept quiet, as they walked back to the inn from the precinct.

The young man knew that this was not the time to use slight-of-hand tricks. He stopped the little boy, and sat him down on his lap.

"When things want to pull you down, the best thing to do is to laugh," he said, then began to laugh heartily, long, and loud. "At least, that's what my dad said. You have to laugh at your problems, and tell the problems that they can't beat you."

Little Hei was not convinced.

"Come, my little friend. Let's clear our heads with a little entertainment, aye? Let's go watch the acrobats tonight, then we'll go back and think about this situation you're in. I'll even get you some cotton candy!"

The boy frowned and shook his head.

"No candy?"

Hei suddenly perked up. "A cruiser!" Then he raised one hand and flew an imaginary toy cruiser over his head, complete with little flying sounds.

"A cruiser it is, then," the young man chuckled. "Go on and get the innkeeper's wife to give you a bath."

The boy nodded and went running into the inn.

"Very nice boy, aye?" Gorobei smiled at the innkeeper, who greeted him at the door. "I still wonder why he was on that ship, though. I wonder where he was headed in the first place."

"There's a safe haven for little children that I hear about," the innkeeper offered, "Maybe the ship was headed there. I hate to think a foreign child was taken by slave traders…."

"Slave traders?"

The innkeeper lowered his voice. "There's an organization picking up orphans and wanderers, offering them a chance to work or to live elsewhere, but they send them to work for some of the other clans, the more cruel ones. They feed batteries and coal to the Honmaru. Very dangerous work, especially for children."

"Very cruel of them."

"I agree," the innkeeper said. "Keep a close eye on the redhead while you're at the night shops. Who knows who might pick him up."

"I'll remember, thank you. Isn't there really anything I can do to repay you?"

"Having that little happy thing running around but not breaking our plates is payment enough to an old couple like us," the innkeeper chuckled.

The little boy tugged at his sleeve. He now smelled of fresh soap and water, plus the scent of the warm rice ball he held in his hand.

"Go on and have dinner," Gorobei patted him. "I'll go get ready myself."

"Okay."

For now, the boy's problems were all forgotten.

…………………………

The first thing the young man did that night was to buy his little friend that toy cruiser he wanted. He was pretty sure the boy with take the little plane apart once they got back to the inn, considering the way Hei even tried to get to the inn's good-luck cat, to find out how it kept moving its paw up and down. But that was alright. As long as Hei-chan was happy, he was happy, too.

As soon as the acrobat show finished, Gorobei knew he had made the right choice to take Hei along that evening. Hei was clapping and laughing happily at the performance. He was having a good time. It was as if he had already forgotten about why he was with the young soldier in the first place. The boy had forgotten to think about the future as well.

"Goro-san…" the boy tugged at his sleeve.

"Yes?" He smiled at how quickly he was given a nickname.

"This is the best night I've ever had!" Hei smiled at him, as he clutched the toy cruiser.

"My pleasure, little friend," Gorobei patted his head.

That was the point of this, anyway. Little children should not have to think about sad thoughts and unknown futures. Grownups thought about that for them. As the grownup, the young man partly ignored the sights, smells, and sounds, keeping his eyes and ears up for any rumors and signs of where the safe haven was, or who could be talked to about it.

He had heard a few things here and there which made him confident of the safe haven in the current district. That was a major relief. There was a place he could eventually leave his little friend, and be sure he would be cared for. But he still did not know where it was, and no one could tell him.

Frustrating, somewhat. He had wanted to spend his very first service leave for himself, enjoying what he wanted to enjoy. Now here he was thinking hard about what to do with a boy he had just met.

Furthermore, a rumor was passing through the crowds in the night shops about a confiscated vessel. It was a confirmed slave ship. The people inside were rescued, and the children brought to safe havens. The leaders on the ship, however, had escaped.

Descriptions of the slave ship eventually came around. It was relatively small and passed by the ports 2 days ago. There was no mistaking it. That was the ship little Hei was on, before he fell into the water.

Mixed emotions of relief and anger swelled in the young man. The notion that the boy had been set to serve the rest of his young life as a cart pusher. The realization that circumstances prevented that awful future from happening.

It was as his father had said once. Sometimes a chance meeting creates a lasting friendship. Sometimes fate lets a person cross paths with someone's life, changing it for the better.

Why him? Why little Hei? And why at that particular time?

Did it even matter?

All the thinking suddenly made him realize that he was no longer holding onto a little boy.

"Hei-chan?"

He looked around at the surrounding shops, hoping the boy was just awestruck at some scene and had forgotten to walk along with him. "Hei-chan? Where you, my little redhead?"

But still no answer.

"HEI-CHAN!"

Still no answer, and no little boy running to him.

He walked the long street up and down for many meters both ways, and did not find a speck of red. He kept calling out, but no little boy waved back at him. He started asking random passersby about a redhaired boy with a toy plane. At first he got shrugs and shaking heads, but finally more and more people began pointing in a certain direction.

The direction of the ports.

He swore under his breath as he started running. "I'm NOT getting my own kids!"

…………………………

Argh, it's still not long. Oh, well. I do hope you liked it, all the same.

**narrizan – **A mother of 2 kids, why are you reading my work? (LOL) Thanks for liking the Kyuzo oneshot, and you're welcome. Your explanation to why I do this during exam season is at the start. **Samuraiko – **Yeah, the war is only an incidental thing in this story, hehe. **Anonymous reviewer (me) – **Thanks much for liking. **Motokonobaka – **Thanks for thinking it's cute.


	3. forgetting

This is the last of the three chapters for this story. Any longer, and this would be tedious, don't you agree? So it ends here. Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it. S7 will never be mine, but I'd like to really own that figurine of Hei-san that's already available in Japan. The figurines for the other six are really awesome, too!

Oh, yeah. I apologize for abusing the word "little" in this story. But I think you'll agree with me that all the other words in the MS Word thesaurus don't just quite say it the way I want it to mean.

…………………………

Many terrible thoughts ran through his head. The foremost of which was: had the boy fallen off a ledge and drowned, again? He was already quite fond of the boy he had saved at the start of his first service leave, and in no way was he letting him die again.

"HEI-CHAN!" he called out again. "Where IS that little redhead? HEI-CHAN!"

He reached the noodle shops near the ports, and asked all of them about a little redhaired boy. None had seen him.

"HEI-CHAN!"

"Goro-san!" came a shout back to him, from a few meters away.

But he did not know where the voice came from, so he did a complete circle. "Hei-chan? Where are you?"

"Goro-san!" This time it came from in front of him, and little Hei was waving both arms in the air with a grin.

The boy was at a dumpling shop. Soon a middle-aged and slightly rounded woman came beside him.

The thoughts of potential slave traders still had not left the young solder, and he immediately ran to the boy and the woman. "Who are you, madam, why are you with this boy, and what do you plan to do with him? Answer quickly and truthfully, please."

The woman did not reply, until the little boy tugged at her dress. "He's Goro-san. He saved me. He's alright."

The woman smiled at the boy's confidence, and acceded. "I work in this district's safe haven," the woman explained, as she presented an identification card. "He was crying when I found him. I thought he was alone, so I took him in for a while."

"And because you looked nice enough, he went with you," Gorobei sweatdropped. "Ayaya, do NOT scare me like that, Hei-chan!" he breathed a sigh of relief. "I never want you to lose your trust in people, but do learn to be careful, please?"

The little boy scratched his head and grinned.

"Are you alright?"

Hei nodded. "She was really nice."

He never knew how nice, but the lady did buy him some dumplings, of which one was left to finish. "Thank you," Gorobei bowed to the woman. "I hope he wasn't such a bother."

But a new thought was forming in his head. "Could you please take me to the safe haven? I want to see it."

"Certainly," she said.

The woman led the young man through the crowded streets of the city once again, until they reached the outskirts, to a large compound.

The outside of the compound was a bit dreary and drab. Inside, however, it was painted with warm, bright colors. Even that late at night, a few older children loitered in the halls, and some nurses were shooing younger ones to bed.

The lady explained. "The children here are mostly orphans because of the war. Some of them have brothers who are soldiers and could not take care of them. We try to give them an education while they here."

The boy looked carefully at all the aspects of the compound. He particularly looked at the children in the large bedrooms. For his part, Gorobei looked carefully if there was no hidden aspects to this safe haven, as he had heard did happen to others. But this safe haven seemed genuine, and the children in it seemed to be well cared for. He looked down at Hei, and his eyes showed that they agreed.

He looked at the lady, then at his little friend, and decided. "Would it be alright if you did take him in, for real? I'm free only this week, and I am looking for a good place to put him."

"Yes, it would not be a problem," the lady said, and smiled at the boy.

But the little boy looked up at the woman, then at the young soldier, back at the woman, back at the young soldier. He finally took a long look at the young man, took up his hand, and clung to him.

He sighed. "Maybe tomorrow, then, madam." It was all right with the lady.

The young soldier slung the boy on his back once again, and soon he was sleeping soundly. He walked back to the inn.

The next day, he brought his little friend to the military base. Besides showing him the machines and the cruisers, he wanted to show him how difficult it would be to live in the base, as a little boy.

It had the opposite effect. Hei gazed in awe at all the large machines that surrounded him, and his eyes lit up as Gorobei's comrades spared a few minutes to explain how the cruisers worked.

"When I grow up, I'm working at a place like this!" the boy promised. "I wanna make those cruisers fly!"

"Sure, my friend," the young soldier patted his head. "But first, you have to grow up."

"So, I'll stay here!"

"You can't, Hei!"

A siren blared. Gorobei took up the little boy and ran to a safe place. The soldiers started running to and fro, preparing weapons, machines, and cruisers. It was systematic in a messy way. But if anyone stood there who did not know what to do, he was sure to have been tripped or trampled in the general organized confusion. It was a drill, and he was glad his little friend saw it.

"You see, Hei-chan? You would be too small. People won't see you."

"I won't cause trouble! I promise!"

He had to strike hard, to make him understand. Even if he had to hurt him. "What happened to your mommy and daddy CAN happen to us. This base can be burned to the ground. You MIGHT be captured again, and I won't be there to save you. You MIGHT be killed, and I couldn't stop it."

The boy's jaw dropped, as he looked up at the young man.

Hei was silent for the rest of that afternoon, as they left the base, and as they walked back to the safe haven.

They were welcomed again by the woman from last night. She offered a hand to the little boy, but the boy clung to Gorobei, and would not let go.

The young man fought hard to keep back sniffles and tears. He lowered himself to the boy's level and ran his hand through the boy's hair. "I'd like to stay with you longer, too, Hei-chan, but I'm a soldier, and it's dangerous for you to live with me. I only have this week free. You have to grow up somewhere and not be afraid."

A few small tears appeared in the little boy's eyes. "I'll be good, Goro-san. I won't cry. I won't get lost. I won't run away…"

"That's not the point, Hei-chan, that's not the point," he sighed. "We're in a war, you know that. If you stay with me, chances are good you will get hurt, and you may be killed. Now, that's fine with me, but I don't want it for you."

The little boy wrapped his arms around the young man's arm.

"Please, madam," the young man begged.

"Believe me, I understand," she said. "Please follow me."

She led them to one of the larger rooms of the compound, already filled with children in double-decked beds. Most of the children were about the same age as the little boy, or even younger. A few of the other boys hugged little cruisers while they slept, which made Hei smile a bit.

She stopped at an empty bed at the end of the room, beside a window which let in the starry sky. She led the boy to the window, and pointed to the young soldier's base. "Your friend will be there, see? When he looks up, he will see you here."

Of course Gorobei knew the lady was offering the little boy a dream, but it was indeed a good one. He grinned to himself that he would probably look to the west for a few nights as well, just to remind himself about his little friend. As for Hei, that hope was enough to make him really happy.

The boy instinctively crawled up onto the bed, and patted the soft pillow. He smiled at the lady and at Gorobei as he snuggled under the blanket.

The young man stroked his little friend's hair. "Here's a story my dad told me," he began. "It's about this old man and this old woman with a peach tree in their backyard. The peaches were okay most years, but there was this one year when they got a really, really large peach. They let the large peach grow and grow, and finally it dropped to the ground…"

As he expected, as he wanted, before he could get to the part where the boy came out of the peach and was named Momotaro, Hei was already fast asleep, a smile on his face.

"And little Heihachi lived happily ever after," he concluded.

He bowed once more to the lady. "Please take care of him, really well. He is a smart and talented boy. Let him grow up without fearing the world, please."

"We will try our best," the woman promised, and went with him outside.

The woman and the soldier parted ways at the gates of the safe haven. He looked up for a moment at the building, toward the section where he left his little friend.

"I'm doing the right thing, I know I am," he said to himself. "Still….Egad, it hurts something terrible…I swear, if it hurts like this, I will never get my own children…"

But as he walked farther and farther from the gate, he heard the clang of the gate, and a little voice shouting.

"Goro-san! Goro-san!"

He looked behind him, and found his little redhaired friend, with two streams of tears down his cheeks. Being small enough, he slipped through the bars of the gate, and passed through to the young man's side.

Gorobei shook his head and laughed sadly. "I thought so. I couldn't trick you like that. Now, please, Hei. Stay here. Go on. Forget about me, and live a happy life."

Little Hei ran up to him."I'll never forget you," the boy said.

"Five coins say you will, my little friend, in only a year," he smiled.

"No, no, I won't!"

"But we WILL see each other again," he added. "You can bet on it. So go on and forget, and don't worry about it."

"But, but, Goro-san…"

"See? I'll forget about you, too. But we will meet each other, some day, and become friends all over again."

The boy looked up at him. "We will see each other again? You promise?"

"Yes. I have that feeling we will. It may take a while, but we will."

The boy tried to wrap his arms around whatever of his waist he could manage.

The young man kneeled, and allowed the boy to give him a tight hug. He allowed him to sniffle and cry on his shirt. He hugged him back. "Always remember to smile, even when you are sad," he told him. "Never forget THAT."

"Okay," the little boy promised.

…………………………………

It was the first of many, many service leaves the young soldier would get.

Many years passed. Wars and battles began. Wars and battles ended.

With the many concerns of life in the military service, then of life as a wanderer, that first service leave was slowly forgotten.

Life had both been kind and unkind to Katayama Gorobei. He was alive and intact, but he was now poor and living off his skills in weapons. It was true that many of his kind looked down on him for capitalizing on samurai skills. It was also true that his life did not make him rich. But every time he saw a group of children laugh and applaud his performance, everything was forgiven, as he eagerly awaited another day.

As chance would have it, he saw a performance by another of his kind. A swordsman in white moved with swift grace and impeccable style, as he rescued a merchant's baby. It did not take much for Gorobei to be interested in the man. It took even less for him to accept the offer to work with that master swordsman.

His first mission under this new commander was to help find five other swordsmen. So far, it had not been easy. There were many swordsmen. There had been none willing or good enough to accept the offer. They had already seen several sunsets without any new recruits. He returned to Masamune's workshop earlier than the others that day, having gone his own way.

This sunset was different. Masamune talked to him about a samurai who had offered to chop wood in exchange for a wind-up contraption Gorobei was not sure he understood. The sound of the firewood getting chopped was smooth and even, quite impressive. It was even more impressive that the samurai was using his own sword to chop the wood.

The small samurai wore a pilot cap that partly hid his orange-red hair. He saw Gorobei, bowed politely, then resumed chopping. The older samurai talked to the younger for a while.

"You seem quite happy, for someone who lives by the day," the older one said.

"Someone once told me to always remember to smile, even when I was sad," the other replied, then grinned at him. "So I do just that."

He proceeded and asked the young man what he thought about being alive, and…would he be willing to destroy 40 Nobuseri? The redhead in the pilot cap facefaulted, but he agreed.

"A pleasure working with a nice young man like you, then," he presented a hand. "My name is Katayama Gorobei."

"Pleasure's all mine," the redhead bowed to him. "Hayashida Heihachi. From here and there."

"Heihachi!" He looked at the young man quite suddenly.

"Yes, sir?"

He shook his head, and rubbed his eyes. "Never mind….I just thought I remembered something," he shrugged. "The others will be coming shortly. Come inside for some dinner."

Heihachi went in, Gorobei leading the way. "Um, Katayama-san…," he stopped him, "I question, if I may?"

"Call me Gorobei, for goodness' sakes, everyone does!" the older man chuckled. "Now, what's the question?"

"Um……have we met, before?"

"Hmmm…." The man rubbed his chin. "I don't seem to remember if we have, my friend. If that is so, then fate wills it that we meet again. That is all."

The redhaired samurai grinned, and followed him. "Okay."

…………………………

**Motokonobaka – **Well, he won't have to do that anymore, as you see. **Samuraiko – **I actually forgot about that little conversation you noted. Your writing astounds me to no end, and the fact that you read MY work is a great honor. Best of luck with that DBZ book thing. **Narrizan –** It scares me no end that a mother of 2 is reading my material and enjoying it. But thanks a lot, and thanks for liking the link. That and a few other pics of Heihachi at 7 at the same site couldn't get out of my head. **Junyortrakr—**You know, you're not forced to read my S7 stuff, hehe. Thanks all the same for reading. **Me—**You probably have seen that pic, and yes, it's beyond cute. It's an "Awwwwwww….." moment.

Thanks again for reading. I have an idea still boiling which refuses to brew. I hope it brews already. Here's to wishing the brewing idea already brews over by the end of March, and I will write helter-skelter like I did for Tenshi. Until then, see ya around.

EK out.


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